1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to the provision of an image indoor map and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for providing an image-based indoor map, which can provide an image-format indoor map of indoor space that can be used for various indoor location-based services.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, as the structure of indoor space becomes more and more complicated, as in the case of large-scale shopping malls and convention centers, and as a large part of human life is conducted indoors, the importance of services provided based on various types of indoor information, for example, indoor location-based services such as indoor navigation and indoor emergency rescue and recovery, has increased. Accordingly, research into related technologies and the development of related systems have been actively conducted.
Such indoor location-based service needs indoor maps as basic data required in order to visualize a specific indoor space or to efficiently deliver information about the area surrounding a user terminal. The indoor maps that are used require different formats and characteristics depending on the function, range, or the like of indoor location-based service.
Similar to a map of outdoor space, a map of indoor space may also be represented in the form of a vector or an image. The vector-format indoor map is advantageous in that, even if the map is magnified or reduced, it is not distorted, but it is disadvantageous in that the procedure for constructing the map is generally complicated and requires a lot of expense. In contrast, the image-format indoor map is disadvantageous in that, when the map is magnified or reduced, it may be distorted, but it is advantageous in that the map may be more simply visualized, and the construction expense thereof may be further reduced depending on the range of visualization. The vector-format indoor map and the image-format indoor map may be suitably utilized depending on the requirements of indoor location-based service that utilizes indoor maps.
Most indoor maps have recently been constructed and provided in the form of vectors, but requirements for image-format indoor maps have gradually increased owing to the simplicity and utilization of image-format indoor maps. Furthermore, in many cases, vector-format indoor maps are occasionally converted into and utilized as image-format indoor maps for the purpose of simpler and more efficient visualization.
However, as described above, the image-format indoor maps are disadvantageous in that images may be distorted when the map is magnified or reduced. Further, in most cases, indoor space is generally characterized by having a stacked vertical structure, but a typical image-based indoor map represents a 2D-format plane, thus making it difficult to represent indoor space using such a 2D-format plane.
In connection with this, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2015-0076796 discloses a technology related to “3-Dimensional Indoor Route Providing Apparatus, System and the Method.”